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T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E E VA N G E L I C A L A L L I A N C E
Billy Graham: 60 years on
BAKER CHICK
Martha Collison on faith, food and new-found fame
IN YOUR WORDS
60 SECONDS
BIG INTERVIEW
Mpho Tutu on continuing her father’s legacy
GOOD QUESTION
THEOLOGY
POWER
Why the Church needs to engage with politics
CONNECT
ON THE JOB
NOV/DEC 2014
NEWS COMMENT FEATURES
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CONTENTS
Amaris Cole: “God reassures His people throughout the Bible that He has a plan and that they shouldn’t worry. God told the Israelites not to fear or be anxious, “for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10).”
idea-torial New beginnings Change is rarely easy. It can seem daunting – that’s why God reassures His people throughout the Bible that He has a plan and that they shouldn’t worry. God told the Israelites not to fear or be anxious, “for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10) and, of course, He promised Jeremiah in 29:11: “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” New beginnings are a blessing. As I was putting together this issue of idea, my very first, I was constantly reminded of what a huge privilege it is to work for Him. What a great new opportunity. As the new girl, I’m obviously trying to impress my Alliance bosses, former editor Chine Mbubaegbu (what a hard act to follow!) and general director Steve Clifford, but it’s great to work somewhere that holds God as the ultimate boss. The Alliance is truly Christ-filled, and it’s amazing to be a part of it. That leads me to this month’s issue. It’s not unusual for my mind to be filled with thoughts of food, but this time I had an excuse. We met Martha Collison of Great British Bake Off-fame. At only 17, this young lady is certainly making the most of her new, God-given opportunity. Find her interview on page eight. We also look at two great missions of the past, which were great new ventures in their day. In fact, on page 20 we examine how Billy Graham’s crusade is still the closest the UK has come to revival, 60 years on, and examine the key role the Alliance played. And OMF celebrate their 150th anniversary next year – hear about their amazing history on page 18. I am excited by the new opportunities God gives us. Are you? Amaris Cole, Editor Front cover image: Billy Graham
We’re on Twitter! Follow us @idea_mag
FEATURES 6 Faith behind bars
Christianity Explored in prisons.
14 Christmas Starts…
Have a look at this year’s campaign.
18-19 150 years in Asia
22
OMF celebrate their 150th anniversary.
20-21 The letter that saved lives
We discover the Alliance’s role in the Harringay Crusade.
Grace, forgiveness and the Tutu legacy Mpho Tutu speaks about forgiveness being the heart of faith.
REGULARS 4-5 Connect
News from the Alliance.
8-9 Sixty Seconds with
Meet Martha from the Great British Bake Off.
10-12 Nations
35
News from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Soul Story Get on up: the story of James Brown.
16 On the Job
Meet a Christian waiter – with a difference.
36 Good Question
What’s wrong with polygamy?
37 In your words
idea readers respond.
38 Last Word
General director Steve Clifford writes…
36 What’s wrong with polygamy? Don Horrocks explores.
Head Office Evangelical Alliance has moved: 176 Copenhagen Street, London N1 0ST tel 020 7520 3830 [Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm] fax 020 7520 3850 info@eauk.org www.eauk.org
Email address changes to members@eauk.org Northern Ireland Office First Floor Ravenhill House 105 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8DR tel: 028 9073 9079 nireland@eauk.org
Evangelical Alliance leadership team Steve Clifford, Helen Calder, Fred Drummond, Elfed Godding, Dave Landrum, Peter Lynas
Wales Office 20 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1PT tel: 029 2022 9822 wales@eauk.org Scotland Office International Christian College, 110 St James Road, Glasgow, G4 0PS tel 0141 548 1555 scotland@eauk.org
The Evangelical Alliance. A company limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales No. 123448. Registered Charity No England and Wales: 212325, Scotland: SC040576. Registered Office: 176 Copenhagen Street, London, N1 0ST
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
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CONNECT
News from the Alliance
Council meets to discuss power, politics and public leadership (Photo credit: by Alex Moyler)
by Amaris Cole
The Church needs to “get comfortable” with engaging in politics, the Evangelical Alliance’s Council heard when it met in September. More than 100 leaders gathered for the two-day meeting of Council members and guests to talk, worship and pray together, as well as engaging with the theme of power and politics. Gavin Shuker MP spoke about how Christians should handle power in public life, saying there is a need for the Church to get comfortable exercising power, even if sometimes it exercises it badly. “There is a massive need for people to
engage with power,” the MP for Luton South said. “For Christians, the exercising of power is deeply important – it’s part of our redemption.” He admitted that institutions, such as political parties and indeed the Church, can be places of low-level corruption, but added: “We need to learn how to love institutions, to change and transform them, while recognising they’re broken as well.” He said if every evangelical joined a political party, there would be a huge impact to the quality of politics. In a closed panel of political leaders from across the UK, panellists commented that the Church did not understand the pressures on them, and certainly did not engage in politics.
The power survey carried out by the Alliance’s advocacy team, which 2,000 evangelicals took part in, will be released in February ahead of the general election. But the Council took a smaller version of the survey and the results were released at the meeting. Almost half of the 46 Council members who participated said they were less trusting of the government today than previously, with 27 per cent answering that they had lost faith in those in power. Worryingly, a third of those surveyed said that when they voted for an MP, they chose the ‘least bad’ option. The Council met at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire on 17 to 18 September.
Churches should be supporting their local Christian politicians, it was agreed, and not just by offering prayer.
PRAY WITH US Praise God for the launch of Home for Good as an independent organisation this autumn, and pray that they will be a wonderful blessing for the thousands of children in need of fostering and adoption. As our Council heard about the importance of Christians engaging with power, politics and public leadership, please pray that churches will recognise the need for this involvement. IDEA MAGAZINE / 4
Please pray for the Christmas Starts with Christ campaign that is being launched on 30 November 2014 – the Alliance is one of 16 churches and organisations uniting to speak out and bring Christ back to the heart of Christmas. Please pray for a joint threads and South Asian Forum event for young adults in their 20s and 30s on 25 November, exploring
issues of identity around being young, Asian, British and Christian. Join with us in thanksgiving for all the Alliance’s supporters and members. Praise God that He provides for this work through the generous gifts and prayers of those in partnership with us. Would you like to become a supporter? eauk.org/support
News from the Alliance
CONNECT
New Council members The Alliance welcomed the following new Council members during the meeting in September… Kofi Banful
Brian Harley
Heather Rayner
Senior pastor of the Praise Christian Centre London with a vision to be ‘witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth’.
Chairman of the group for evangelism and renewal in the United Reform Church.
A chartered accountant who will serve as a member of the Evangelical Alliance Finance Committee.
Stephen Cave A member of the Alliance’s Northern Ireland executive, Stephen works for Biblica and will also join the Alliance’s Board. Ken Clarke
David Hull Methodist Minister and Chair of Methodist Evangelicals Together. Graham Hutchinson Pastor at York Elim Pentecostal Church and co-Chair of One Voice York.
A member of the Northern Ireland executive, Kay Morgan-Gurr Ken is the Honorary Bishop of Down and National director of Children Worldwide and Drumore Diocese. director of Family Foundations Trust. Paul Coulter Mike O’Neil Paul is a member of the Northern Ireland CEO of Stewardship and former executive executive and lectures at Belfast Bible director of Hope for New York. College. Margaret Ferguson
Kiera Phyo
Superintendent of East Belfast Mission in inner East Belfast with a passion for evangelism, Margaret is also a member of the Northern Ireland executive.
Leads Tearfund’s youth and emerging generation team and co-leads Restore Church in Peckham.
Will your church pray for the persecuted Church? This year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church will be held on Sunday, 16 November 2014, and the Religious Liberty Commission is encouraging churches across the UK to unite in prayer for persecuted Christians. The Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) is a commission of the Evangelical Alliance that brings organisations working on behalf of persecuted Christians together to speak with one voice. The current RLC members are Release International, Open Doors (UK & Ireland) and Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Each member organisation has its own distinctive mandate, but all feel the issue of Christian persecution is so important that they want to speak together regularly to raise awareness of key developments globally, in a significant and collaborative way. Dave Landrum, director of advocacy at the Alliance, said: “We read in the Bible ‘If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it’. Let’s make this a reality on 16 November and join with Christians across the globe praying for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith.” A range of resources are available to help your church mark IDOP Sunday. Visit the website for links to the online IDOP resources produced by RLC members. eauk.org/rlc NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
Caroline Taylor Serving as a member of the Evangelical Alliance Finance Committee, Caroline has received the Financial Leadership Award for raising the awareness of finance at Toybox. Ruth Walker A member of the Alliance’s Scotland executive, Ruth runs consultancy Turquoise Insight, specialising in business strategy and mentoring. Richard Webb Chair of the board of directors for the East Midlands Baptist Association. Noel Wright Assistant Territorial Evangelism Secretary of The Salvation Army.
Tell us your stories You’ll hopefully have received our latest appeal in which we also encouraged you, our members, to tell us how your churches are being good news in your communities. Here are just a couple of the great stories we got back: We are a small, elderly congregation of 30, but we are trying to reach out to the local community. There are blocks of retirement flats opposite the church. We have a weekly 20 minute café-style “shoppers” service. We have a monthly community lunch. We hold a bi-monthly Sunday café-style service with special guest speakers/musicians. We believe that folk coming to the end of their earthly life need to know Jesus and then experience His love as much as those who are younger. Miss CP Wilson My church, Christ Church, Wharton, Winsford, serves our community with a Christians Against Poverty (CAP) centre, CAP money courses, a foodbank, mother and toddler group and pre-school group. We have a children and families minister who works with children in the church, the local schools and church clubs. Mr and Mrs Walker eauk.org/autumnappeal2014
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GLOBAL
United mission to reach prisoners worldwide with the gospel Two Christian organisations are joining together to reach a million prisoners around the world with the good news of Jesus Christ. Alliance member Christianity Explored Ministries (CEM) have announced a major new link-up with Prison Fellowship International (PFI). The new initiative will see the Christianity Explored course form a key part of PFI’s strategy of taking the gospel to prisoners throughout the world. Founded in 1979, PFI has a network of 45,000 volunteers and currently undertakes monthly prison ministry with two million inmates in 3,700 prisons in 127 countries. There are an estimated 10 million inmates in 22,000 jails across the world. The Prisoners Journey, PFI’s new, three-strand evangelism programme (of which Christianity Explored is the core part) aims to reach one million of these prisoners with the gospel by 2020. Two pilot projects have just been launched in Nigeria and South Africa. A total of 250 volunteers and chaplains were trained in two Nigerian locations, Abuja and Lagos, on how to run the course. Those who attended the training were very positive and realised the impact will be felt outside of the prison, as well as within. One minister enthused about the materials: “This programme is not just about the inmates. I have seen that some of the things we learnt we could use in our other church programmes and activities.” Another 60 volunteers and chaplains completed the leaders’ training in South Africa. One participant said afterwards: “It’s very difficult to put into words what the course meant for me personally. I come from a family who went to church twice a year, made me do confirmation (because it’s the right thing to do) and that’s it. We never ‘lived’ Christianity. “So I have longed for a closer relationship with God for as long as I can remember but never quite fitted in with the wellspoken people of the church - they always know how to pray, what to say at the right IDEA MAGAZINE / 6
time, seem to have all the answers - and I had nothing. The (Christianity Explored) material we received has been teaching me a lot, and I’m so grateful for it.” The Starting Out phase of The Prisoners Journey encourages participants to embark on a journey with Jesus Christ, emphasising that he, too, experienced much of what they feel now, including fear, loneliness, alienation and abandonment. Prisoners wanting to learn more are invited to join the second phase of the programme, Exploring Jesus, where they go through the Christianity Explored materials in a group setting. This second phase is an eight-week course that simply lets the gospel of Mark tell the gospel of Jesus. It focuses on who Christ is (his identity), what he came to do (his mission) and our response to him (his call). The final phase, Overcoming Obstacles, seeks to engage prisoners with a real, personal relationship with Christ within the context of the Church. It is estimated that 9,000 prisoners will attend a welcome event for The Prisoners Journey in Nigeria and South Africa in the coming weeks and months. PFI anticipates that 3,000 of these will go on to complete the course in 15 prisons by the end of the year. Plans are well underway for another 15 countries to join the programme in 2015. Ian Roberts, chief executive of CEM, said: “We’ve been thrilled how the Prisons Edition of Christianity Explored has already been embraced by chaplains and volunteers in the United Kingdom and beyond. We
There are an estimated 10 million inmates in 22,000 jails across the world. are even more delighted now to have this opportunity of partnering with PFI, an organisation whose scope of ministry in prisons and heart to share the gospel is unparalleled. “We trust the enthusiasm that The Prisoners Journey training has been received will multiply and lead to prisoners all over the world exploring Mark’s gospel and finding true freedom and salvation in Jesus Christ.” Timothy Khoo, president and CEO of PFI, says the bold scope of The Prisoners Journey programme comes in direct response to the overwhelming needs observed through the work of the organisation and their national affiliates. He said: “The immensity of the task in reaching one million prisoners by the year 2020 with the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ, cannot be achieved by Prison Fellowship International alone. “Through the generosity of Christianity Explored, this goal becomes eminently achievable because it exemplifies the best of partnership in Christian ministry. God is honoured and blesses unity like this.”
NEWS
Krish Kandiah leaves the Alliance Dr Krish Kandiah left the Alliance this autumn to become the new president of the London School of Theology (LST). Krish became the latest in a number of distinguished Christian leaders to take up the post: most recently former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey. While previously the president role was largely outward-facing, Krish will additionally be responsible for the overall academic and spiritual leadership of LST. As president, Krish will play an active role in the day-to-day life at LST, as a member of the teaching staff and as a key member of the senior leadership team, working alongside LST’s executive director Laura Nairn, who is responsible for the overall management of the college. A key objective will be to promote the value of theological education across the wider evangelical world. Krish joins LST from the Evangelical Alliance where he has served since 2007. He has been involved in championing some of the Alliance’s most high profile initiatives including Biblefresh, Confidence in the Gospel and Home for Good. Although Krish is leaving the Alliance, he remains director and founder of the newly independent adoption fostering charity Home for Good. Krish said: “I count it an incredible privilege to join the team at LST, a college which has helped shape so much of the evangelical landscape in the UK and beyond. As I travel I have found a genuine hunger for theology across the world as Christians want to go beyond simplistic answers and superficiality and instead get to know the glory and majesty of God. With huge advances in digital technology I am excited to be leading a theological college that brings world-class scholarship and a passion for innovation.” Grant Masom, chair of the LST Board, welcomed the appointment: “This is an important step forward for the London School of
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Krish Kandiah
Theology. As the leading and largest interdenominational evangelical theological college in Europe, LST is at the forefront of delivering transforming theological education. Krish brings a wealth of experience, a fresh outlook and incredible energy, which we are sure will benefit LST students, staff and faculty, and through them the wider Christian world.”
Christians want to go beyond simplistic answers and superficiality and instead get to know the glory and majesty of God. Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: “We are delighted for Krish and excited for him as he takes up this fantastic position at one of our member organisations. Strong links already exist between LST and the Alliance, with myself and my two predecessors Joel Edwards and Clive Calver having been trained there. This is not goodbye. In fact, we look forward to forging even closer relationships in the coming years.”
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60 SECONDS WITH…
Cupcakes and chemistry: the schoolgirl who’s cooking up a bright future
Martha Collison was one of the stars of this year’s Great British Bake Off. During the show Danny Webster caught up with her to find out about the experience and the impact it had on her. idea: What’s it been like taking part on the Bake Off? I didn’t tell my parents until I’d submitted the application form because I never thought I’d get onto the programme – it was all a bit scary. The best part of it had to be meeting the other 12 bakers. You get really close and it becomes like a family. The hardest part has definitely been trying to juggle practising with my exams. At the beginning I was practising quite a lot, because you don’t want to be rubbish on the telly! It was just crazy trying to balance it, I don’t really know how I did it because it was really difficult to find time to practise and to revise, to be at school and on the show. What goes through your head when you’re told to make a Swedish Princess cake? My first reaction to the Swedish Princess Cake was that two hours is really not a very long time to make any cake, let alone one that has 14 steps. But I did like the technical a lot more than the others did because nobody could practice and do it beforehand, so everyone was in the same boat. What experience did you have of baking before the show? The first thing I baked was with my mum. We had a kids’ cookbook and we would work through it and make simple things like tomato pasta, rock cakes and pancakes. IDEA MAGAZINE / 8
I love doing it to relax. When I was 16 I did a wedding cake. That was quite nervewracking and I’m very thankful to the lovely couple that allowed me to do that – not many couples would be relaxed enough to let a 16-year-old bake their wedding cake. Did your faith help you to cope with the stress of the competition? It was really tricky to manage, but to have a quiet time when you’re reading the Bible and praying takes your mind off it and helps you to be a bit at ease. In between two weeks (of filming) I went to the Big Church Day Out to volunteer for a weekend while the others were practising their socks off. Because it’s a big competition you want to do well, but I was at a festival with my friends volunteering, so (the other contestants) asked a few questions about that and my faith. But mostly we just talked about baking. Tell me about what you’re getting up to with Tearfund and their No Child Taken Campaign? It’s very exciting; at the same time as I was getting involved in baking on the telly, the
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Having my faith in God definitely helped out with the stress because there was so much on my plate to juggle: being at school, being picked for head girl, doing Bake Off and going to church. Tearfund Big Bake was also planned. I’ve always had a passion to stop child trafficking because it’s something that makes me really upset. For the campaign to involve baking and my most hated thing in the world, at the time I had a voice to say these things, felt like such a God coincidence. I decided to get involved as soon as I could. I phoned up and I’ve done a couple of videos for them.
What difference has being on the Bake Off made to your life? I never thought that I would have my picture taken by people or autographs and stuff, but it happens all the time now. It’s so funny, I’m still me – just a normal 17-year-old. I went shopping yesterday and I think five people stopped me and took pictures. It’s really strange. Being on the Bake Off has made me grow up. I’ve been put into the adult world of TV and radio and having to speak in front of people. I’d love to go into baking in the future and I feel so lucky and blessed to have been given such a massive opportunity when I’m so young. I haven’t done university yet, so I’ve still got all these things to come. Every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child is trafficked. Tearfund is calling for people to help end this shocking reality by supporting the charity’s No Child Taken campaign. Visit tearfund.org/nochildtaken for more information.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
eauk.org/northernireland
An issue of morality or social justice? by David Smyth, public policy officer, Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland “Does the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland only speak out on ‘moral issues’ or do you work on issues of social justice too?” This was the question posed to me recently in a room full of Christians. It’s not the first time this sentiment has been implied in conversations, by both Christians and non-Christians alike. The inference is that we – evangelical Christians – speak loudly on certain issues, while remaining silent on others. In one sense, it was a welcome and timely question. I understand the genuine concerns that lead to it being asked. There is a very real fear that Christians are becoming known not by their love or proclamation of good news, but by what they stand against. This is particularly true in Northern Ireland, which is often depicted in the media as a backward and regressive place because of Christian views on certain issues, like abortion and same-sex marriage. I accept the fact that evangelicals are heard to speak and act on certain issues more than others. There are many reasons for this, not least a dramatic shifting landscape of values. Added to this is a wider Western caricature of evangelicals in the media where ‘Christian views’ are only sought or considered newsworthy in particular stories. I also think Christians are heard most clearly on the issues where we are saying something very different to the culture around us. We believe human life was created in the image of God and is not a cosmic accident to be ended at our convenience. We believe in radically different boundaries when it comes to sex and relationships. We talk of moral responsibility to a culture obsessed with autonomy. We put our faith in the supernatural in an age of rationality. Much is lost in translation in the conversation between those of us seeking to live faithful, God-truth in a rapidly changing culture. We see the world through a different lens and these conflicts are often interpreted as the Church moralising into a ‘secular’ public square. There are certainly other areas we seek to speak into more often: “The cars in the car park are shiny and German, Distinctly at odds with the theme of the sermon.” (The Divine Comedy - the eye of the needle) To echo Neil Hannon’s perceptive song-writing abilities, we’re in the middle of a piece of work designed to challenge a culture of consumerism and we’re encouraging Christians to a deeper theological engagement on creation care. For the last few years we have also been engaged in many low-key meetings with both politicians and the Church about the conflation of the evangelical faith with political power. Christians must not be afraid to speak – even when we reveal ourselves to be weak, broken or hypocritical. We speak humbly, challenging ourselves alongside others, remembering that Jesus reserved his most stinging words for religious hypocrites. This all said on the merits of the question, let me also humbly challenge the premise behind it. I’m not convinced of the dichotomy between ‘moral issues’ on the one hand and ‘social justice issues’ on the other. Take abortion for instance. This might be labelled an issue of private morality for each individual to decide under God where the lines lie between personal freedom and responsibility, between life and death. This is certainly part of the story. However, given that in England and IDEA MAGAZINE / 10
Wales, for every four children born one has been aborted, and that seven million abortions (the population of Scotland and Northern Ireland combined) have occurred since the 1967 Act, it could surely also be labelled a social justice issue. Advocating for the weak, the vulnerable – those without much status or protection. Is this not the heart of social justice? Advocating for the rights of some minorities is currently at the cutting edge of equality and social justice. Advocating for the protection of other minorities is labelled as an issue of personal morality. Advocating for the family is broadly considered a morality issue, whereas advocating for the community as social justice. This is strange, given that family is the fundamental building block of society. We need to be aware of the wider forces at play that label causes and drive agendas. You don’t hear many people saying: “I’m personally against human trafficking but wouldn’t force my views on others.” Yet we hear this reasoning around many other issues where fundamental dignity, freedom and human relationships are being degraded. Is it merely a linguistic fallacy that some issues are tagged ‘personal morality’ and others are ‘social justice’? Is it connected to the fact that social justice, whatever that means exactly, is culturally on trend while public morality is a post-modern pariah? I haven’t room to mention our policy work on adoption and fostering, well-being, human trafficking and poverty issues. Nor have I elaborated on the amazing work of our member churches and organisations, helping people out of debt or campaigning on issues of international development. We continue our work of unity, advocacy and seeking to change the narrative of the evangelical community in Northern Ireland. In all of this we ask for your continued prayers and support as we look to the Lord of all morality and justice. We are happy to continue the conversation on Twitter, at @EANI.
SCOTLAND
eauk.org/scotland
Wanted: Peacemakers for reconciliation work by Gordon Kennedy
Now the vote has been taken place, the Church in Scotland is helping to unite people. The Evangelical Alliance longs to see communities of reconciliation and hope throughout Scotland. Two thousand copies of our document What kind of Nation? were requested by Christians throughout the nation. At its heart, the document is a call to work for a society of hope and justice. As Scotland moves forward, for the Alliance the key is reconciliation. Can the Church become peacemakers across our nation? The risk of love is a broken heart and the price of reconciliation is hard work. Having been made in the image of God, men and women are creatures who love. But that image is marred by the stain of our sin, and so we find love difficult. Often, our relationships get broken and our love for one another falters. Relationships aren’t like a laptop or a washing machine: if one of these breaks down you can just replace it. But relationships are important and shouldn’t be disposable. When they are broken or fractured we need to seek to restore them – that’s what reconciliation is all about. Often our relationships are put under strain by an honest disagreement: shall we vote Yes or No? What hymn book shall we use, if any? Will we use our congregational finances to fund a building project or a relief and development mission? We may all agree that we are allowed to disagree, but too often we find that our relationships cool and our love fails after we have disagreed. We need to grow in the work of reconciliation. We read in scripture that “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18) and experience teaches us that fear damages love. Fear is a significant element in our broken relationships and overcoming it is the first step to living in reconciliation. But we are too afraid of being wrong as it makes us look foolish and unimportant. And so when someone disagrees with us we react defensively and often aggressively. We are afraid of failure and this fear holds us back from risky choices. We hate to admit this, though, even to ourselves. We are afraid of so many things, but freedom from this fear brings peace. As Christians we know that God has been at work in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). The Lord has died for us so that we might know the fullness of his generous love. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
We need to put what we believe about the cross into action. It is there that our broken relationship with God is fully restored. We have been wrong, but now are made right with God. We do not fear any judgment of condemnation, rejection or the emptiness of an eternity separated from our God because we have been set free. So if we disagree with someone on some issue of debate and it turns out we are wrong, why should we be afraid? Christ has died for us and still loves us. If we take a risk and it fails, why should we be afraid? There is nothing we can do to make God love us less. We have been made right with God through the death of Christ, so we are brought into a right relationship with God and can therefore live in a right relationship with one another. Those who God has made peace with are empowered to make peace. Each one who is reconciled to God is commissioned as His agent of reconciliation. God has reconciled Himself to the world through the sacrifice of Christ. We must serve the cause of reconciliation by sacrificial living. The work of reconciliation is urgent. We see the need for reconciliation in every situation around us: in nations torn apart by violent conflict, in communities and families divided over political futures, in congregations weakened by bitter disputes and long held resentments. The work of reconciliation is God’s gift to us as He reconciles us to Himself in Christ. The people of God working as agents of reconciliation and peace are God’s gift to a world of broken relationships. The next time you find yourself praying for God to bless you, remember the Lord Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers (the agents of reconciliation) for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). The Rev Gordon Kennedy, chair of the Evangelical Alliance board in Scotland, is writing a booklet on reconciliation for Christians in Scotland. IDEA MAGAZINE / 11
WALES eauk.org/wales
Star-spangled mission in Wales by Gethin Russell-Jones, Evangelical Alliance Wales
MLW Bridgend Mission - Taste of the Louisiana
Evangelical Alliance Wales is involved in many collaborations: Gweini, CICC (Cymru Institute for Contemporary Christianity), Media Voice Wales and The Net, for example. Through these, Christians from various streams and denominations are working together. But there’s a new kid on block with an American accent. As its name suggests, Mission Links connects churches in the United States with Wales. These are not occasional, one-off relationships, but a reflection of a long-term commitment on both sides of the Atlantic. Mission Links - Wales (MLW) initiates, develops and supports longterm partnership collaborations between Welsh churches and those oversees, especially churches in the US. Churches that feel called by God to play a part in the spiritual transformation of the whole of Wales get involved. As an initiative of Evangelical Alliance Wales, MLW hopes to promote multi-access and multi-ministry partnerships in all 22 counties of the country. Currently, short mission trips for all ages are being promoted, as well as medium and longer term internships for young people. Opportunities for the over-50s age group to serve are also on offer. These creative ministry opportunities exist in education, business, the charity sector, sport and music. MLW is directed by Rev Rob Burns, who has served in the US for 11 years and worked with US churches for 25 years. But for the last 15 years, Rob has lived and served in Wales, giving him the perfect position for this role. He is directly accountable to Rev Elfed Godding, national director of Evangelical Alliance in Wales. Rev Rob Jones and Rev Nigel James also act as ambassadors for MLW. Rob Burns said: “Many other opportunities will exist in the future. Our prayer is that the resulting unity developed among the partnering churches in each county will foster even more mission, evangelism, social action, worship, fellowship, emerging missional communities and therefore, huge kingdom impact!” This summer saw three mission link collaborations take place in South Wales. The first was in Bridgend, where 38 members of First West, the First Baptist Church, West Munroe, joined with more than 200 local Christians in sharing the gospel. In schools, care homes and community events, the gospel was communicated to more than 12,000 residents. One event alone at Bridgend Leisure Centre IDEA MAGAZINE / 12
attracted 550 people. A few of the American party were highly accomplished musicians and this created quite a stir at a local hostelry; during an impromptu jamming session at The Bear Hotel in Cowbridge, a crowd gathered in appreciation of the excellent musicians on show. Later that night the artists revealed they were from a church in Louisiana, to the shock of the audience. This was the sixth year for this transatlantic collaboration and more than 200 people indicated they wanted to know more about following Jesus. For a second consecutive year, ACTS (A Church for Today’s Society) church in the Rhondda linked with Wedgwood Baptist, Fort Worth. The church in Texas brought 25 people on the mission, who served local schools, homes and the foodbank. One event drew more than 200 visitors. For the first time, five churches in the vale of Glamorgan joined Mission Links. The churches were joined by seven visitors from North Fort Worth Church. One day-long community event drew in 1,000 visitors and the week-long mission was very busy, too. Youth work, children’s clubs, business meetings and worship events were all well attended. Reflecting on the summer’s events, Mission Links coordinator Rob Burns said: “These are long-term relationships between Welsh and American churches. They are mutually beneficial and require great commitment on all sides. And there’s no one-size-fits-all situation. American gifts and Welsh needs are matched so that ministry can multiply and greater numbers are exposed to the good news that God loves them.” Elfed Godding, national director of the Evangelical Alliance in Wales, said: “Wales is a small nation, but we have demonstrated time and time again that working collaboratively brings huge benefits. As resources, gifts and people are mobilised around a common cause, local churches are in a greater position to share the gospel and make mission a year-round habit – not simply a summer fling.”
NEWS
Home for Good celebrates independence by Amaris Cole
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson expressed his support for Home for Good as the campaign formed an independent charity this September, urging more families to consider giving children in care the “start in life they deserve”. The Alliance’s church-based adoption and fostering campaign has now launched out to become a full charity committed to rescuing the 6,000 children waiting for adoption and more than 9,000 in care. Exactly 75 years after the government activated Operation Pied Piper to whisk children out of harm’s way as World War Two loomed, Home for Good are dedicated to solving a new crisis, as more children than ever before are taken into care. Today, one child is taken into care every 20 minutes.
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Mayor Boris Johnson said the 75th anniversary of the Operation is an opportunity to remember the kindness of those who willingly provided safety for young Londoners. The mayor added: “It should also remind us that thousands of youngsters today, in the capital and across the country, are also in need of a loving home and I urge more people to consider fostering and adoption to help them get the start in life they deserve.” Since launching, Home for Good has reached more than 250,000 Christians, with 200 churches taking part in the first Adoption Sunday. General director of the Alliance, Steve Clifford, says Home for Good goes with the prayers and blessings of the entire Alliance
family: “In the same way that Tearfund was incubated and birthed out of the Evangelical Alliance nearly 50 years ago, so it is a delight and privilege to now be releasing Home for Good as an independent charity. The impact of the Home for Good campaign over the last two years has been extraordinary.” While recognising the enormous challenge of finding homes for thousands of children in need, he said the Church in the UK is already responding. Dr Krish Kandiah, former executive director of churches in mission at the Alliance, said: “With more children than ever coming into the care system in the UK we took the decision that Home for Good needs to become its own charity to make sure every child that needs a forever family finds one. “We believe the Church is uniquely placed to help find thousands of children the homes they need; indeed it is a vital part of every Christian’s calling to play their part in caring for the vulnerable.” homeforgood.org.uk
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Churches unite to promote Christmas More churches than ever before are backing this year’s Christmas Starts with Christ campaign – a coalition of church and denominational groups who unite to produce an annual advertising campaign to highlight the real reason for the season. Organisers, including the Alliance, feel this year’s campaign – through the backing of the Church – will help make inroads into stemming the tide of a lack of public awareness of the reason for the yuletide festivities. A ComRes survey analysing the success of last year’s campaign shows an increasing awareness of Christmas Starts with Christ among the general public. The Network is hoping to double the number of churches involved this year – from 4,500 last year to 10,000 this year, in order to increase the effectiveness and remind more people of the Christmas story. “When we started this campaign we were worried because 51 per cent of adults thought that the birth of Christ had no relevance to Christmas, but research has shown that we are reversing this, especially among the 18 to 24-year-olds. In this group four out of 10 now understand more about the true meaning of Christmas,” said Francis Goodwin of Church Ads. Last year – the fifth anniversary of the campaign – saw it become a multi-platform campaign, adding a significant increase in its digital and social media presence to the traditional poster and radio advertising. As a result, it reached five million listeners on the Vodafone Top 20 network chart and XFM. And 1,000 people used the #ChristmasStarts hashtag, reaching just over 1.3 million people. There were 22,000 downloads of posters, 9,000 downloads of the radio advertisements and 140,000 page views of the website. IDEA MAGAZINE / 14
ComRes says that 67 per cent of people thought that the Christmas message was conveyed effectively and 49 per cent of people felt that the advertising made them think more about the true meaning of Christmas. ChurchAds.Net was formally set up in 1992 after it ran an experimental Christmas advertising campaign in Oxford in 1991. It has since run many high-profile campaigns around Easter and Christmas.
The 2009 Christmas campaign, which was the first to run under the Christmas Starts with Christ theme, was intended to last for five years but so successful is it that it continues into its sixth year, this year. Francis urged Christian organisations and churches to make use of the resources provided free of charge to show people that the Church is united in putting Christ back at the heart of the season.
Free resources for your church All of the posters and radio advertisements are provided free of cost for download and use through the website christmasstartswithchrist.com for churches, church groups, Christian organisations, radio stations, newspapers and anyone who needs material to promote the true meaning of Christmas. Posters are available for bus stops while a range of other customisable posters are available for co-branding for local use. christmasstartswithchrist.com
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ON THE JOB
Would you dine in the “I know that God values people above all else, which is an inexpressible comfort to me.” Amaris Cole meets Darren Paskell, the blind waiter who refuses to be held back by disability.
dark?
But have there been any accidents? “I once completely soaked a gentleman’s suit as I went to clear away his dish as I failed to notice the full glass of water he’d placed right in the middle of his otherwise empty plate. However, I have now served more than 2,250 guests, so the chances of any of my future customers being soaked by me should be relatively slim,” he promises. Darren Paskell is registered blind. He can just about see enough to detect sunshine, but no more than that. He doesn’t let that hold him back though. He thinks nothing of “traversing London’s transport infrastructure”, saying his blindness generally has more of an impact on the strategy employed toward completing an activity rather than the initial activity choice itself. Working is an enjoyable piece of stability in Darren’s life. He works part-time at the famous Dans le Noir (in the dark) restaurant in Farringdon, London. He explains the concept: “Our customers are treated to a complete dining-in-the-dark experience and are served by blind waiters, though our chefs and bar staff have plenty of light to assist them.” The restaurant believes dining in total darkness creates a sensory experience, helping visitors to re-evaluate the perception of taste and smell. Darkness also kills shyness, its founders say, encouraging social conviviality. Most customers are understandably nervous to begin with. “It’s quite disorientating to find yourself in a room with no idea of your surroundings and many of our dinner guests have never been physically guided anywhere by someone else before,” Darren says. “However, the vast majority take it in their stride. Many tell me how liberating they find the experience of just being able to talk and eat with their friends without worrying about how they look or appear to others.” Eating with cutlery proves difficult for some, but very few will give up eating altogether, Darren tells me. “A waiter is always just a call away.” IDEA MAGAZINE / 16
For Darren, faith gives him a chance to accept many of the challenges he faces. “Somehow, anything may seem a little less daunting when we find ourselves facing our future with company.
It’s quite disorientating to find yourself in a room with no idea of your surroundings and many of our dinner guests have never been physically guided anywhere by someone else before “I can’t say that my faith has proved to be an intrinsic instant answer for everything. What I can say is that I honestly don’t know how I would have remained where I am without God’s support. Any man (never mind deity) who chooses to listen to my regular ranting frankly deserves my respect,” he said. Being brought up a Catholic, Darren has always been aware of Christianity, but began tentatively seeking faith during sixth form. It took a chance encounter with three students on a train station platform to finally demonstrate how eagerly Christ was seeking him.
“Being only two months into my first year at Royal Holloway University, I was still learning my way around. One early Saturday morning in November, I found myself alone with three people at Egham train station,” he said. “When the train pulled in, my three fellow passengers kindly offered to guide me on board. We got chatting and discovered we were all heading to Brighton; a 90-minute journey with plenty of time for conversation. When I heard that they’d just spent the night taking part in a 24-7 Prayer night, I was intrigued. I asked them about their church, and they told me about The Journey Church and invited me along. This was back in 2007 and I’ve been there ever since.” As part of River Church, an Alliance member, The Journey will shortly be celebrating their 10th birthday, and have recently become responsible for a community centre facility at the heart of Englefield Green, offering after school clubs, regular drop-in sessions and access to citizens advice services such as debt counselling. And what are Darren’s dreams for the future? “To be working fulltime, maybe with a new family, but hopefully a little wiser having eagerly embraced more of life’s surprises.”
Dans le Noir Restaurant NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
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Celebrating 150 years of mission in Asia In 2015, OMF International celebrates the 150-year anniversary of Hudson Taylor founding the mission in Asia. Evolving from the China Inland Mission, OMF continues to work throughout East Asia, supported by its 1,400 members from 40 nations. The charity are set to spend the new year remembering the past and thanking God for his faithfulness, while also thinking about what God has in store for the future. Amaris Cole catches up with Rose Dowsett, who has worked with both OMF and Evangelical Alliance, to discuss the history of OMF and the strands that hold its past, present and future together. Taylor was hugely concerned with inland China where, as far as anybody knew, there were millions of people who hadn’t heard the good news.
Hudson Taylor
Rose Dowsett
Hudson Taylor’s story is a rich and inspiring one. From childhood, he was fascinated by China. At 21 he travelled to China with the Chinese Evangelisation Society (CES) to correct the fact that few Chinese people had heard the gospel. At that time, foreigners were only allowed in the treaty ports, but IDEA MAGAZINE / 18
Back in England a few years later, Taylor became convinced that it was not simply a question of whether we have faith in God, but that we trust God who is faithful. “God wanted China to hear the gospel. Taylor became so burned about this that he and his wife Maria decided to trust God for a new enterprise that would focus on inland China,” Rose said, explaining the start of the China Inland Mission (CIM). This new charity was unique, Rose says. Firstly, it was interdenominational. Taylor cared more that people were passionate for the Lord and for the gospel than
An OMF mission today
their churchmanship. Similarly, he was not concerned with advanced academic qualifications, despite the existing mission societies almost exclusively using ordained missionaries. Taylor was happy to include people from all walks of life. “He cared much more about the spiritual calibre of men and women. He insisted that women were to be missionaries in their own right. That was revolutionary.” Cultural sensitivity was also key: all workers learnt and used Chinese, were respectful of Chinese customs – where they did not conflict with Christian principles – and were even asked to wear Chinese costume. The men grew pigtails. Rose said: “He wanted to reduce any unnecessary barriers
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crucial decisions are made in Asia. The headquarters are close to the place of action. “We are not controlled by people thousands of miles away who may not know what’s best for those on the ground.” Today, there are millions of indigenous Christians. Does this mean OMF’s task is finished? “We hear about the huge number of Christians in China, but when you set that against the numbers of the population, there is still a long way to go. There are still many communities without access to the gospel.” In areas with a strong Muslim majority, or very strong Buddhist control, there are millions of people who have never heard the name of Christ. So OMF is still pioneering, working with the national Church. In Japan, often the national leaders will tell the charity when and where they need missionary input. Interestingly enough, they sometimes say that it is easier for foreigners to pioneer in new areas than for Japanese Christians.”
between the missionaries and locals. He was culturally sensitive both in terms of cultural adaptation by missionaries, and also the desire that indigenous groups of believers should, as soon as possible, be responsible for themselves and take responsibility for reaching their own communities.” Chinese Christians being independent of foreign missionaries was central to the Church surviving when CIM were forced to leave after the Communists came to power, Rose believes. Indigenous leaders were built up. The famous Chinese church leaders Watchman Nee and Wang Ming-Dao were inspired by CIM missionaries, but CIM did not want to control them. This is why they went on to develop their very own NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
ministries, Rose explained. But what about the mission today? “Our primary concern is still the character, faith and commitment of candidates. It’s about what God can do, we can’t bring anybody to new life – God alone can do that – but at the same time, God expects his people to be the mouthpiece of the gospel and to demonstrate the gospel in the way we live.” “We try to live close to the levels of those we work amongst. For example, those who work in slums of Manila spend much of their time living in slums rather than moving in and out,” Rose commented on the continuing need for cultural sensitivity. One of the things that was interesting about CIM and is still true of OMF today is that
So how should the UK Church react to the changing scene in Asia? Rose said: “I would love to see many more people here in the UK concerned for Asia, certainly at the level of prayer. We have a huge Asian diaspora in the UK and many people need to be involved in befriending and discipling East Asians here. If you want help with how to do that effectively, groups like Friends International and OMF can help train you in a way that is most effective.” There are still invitations coming from East Asia, in consultation with national churches, and OMF are answering them. The charity say the UK needs to ask: “How can we best serve you?” “It means those who go must be those who are prepared to work with and under national leadership,” Rose reflects. “It is: ‘How, together, can we build the Kingdom of God and further the gospel of God?’” IDEA MAGAZINE / 19
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Billy Graham and the letter that saved 38,000 lives Billy Graham’s legendary mission took place more than half a century ago, but today it still boasts the title of being the largest Christian event in the UK. Ever. And it was triggered by one seemingly insignificant letter to the Evangelical Alliance. As the 60th anniversary of the Greater London Crusade is celebrated this year, Amaris Cole looks back at how it began. The Harringay Crusade saw 38,000 people give their lives to God. Nearly two million people attended the 12-week crusade, which spanned from 1 March to 22 May 1954. This was the closest Britain came to revival in the 21st century, but this mighty mission had humble beginnings.
More than 38,000 registered a decision to convert – the number of people who live in the Lake District.
An estimated 50,000 people attended Hyde Park on Good Friday to hear Billy Graham preach – the number who watched One Direction at Man City’s stadium.
Grand total of attendance for the Crusade 1,047,300 – more than four times the population of Liverpool.
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“In the middle of September 1951 a letter from Philadelphia, reached the secretary of the Evangelistic Alliance in London. It was from the Rev Ralph W Mitchell, secretary for evangelism of the Pocket Testament League. There was nothing particularly significant about the letter apart from one sentence; and that sentence simply offered a suggestion. It was to the effect that a young American evangelist, by the name of Billy Graham, might be invited to Britain for an evangelistic crusade in the not too distant future,” wrote Frank Colquhoun in The Official Record of the Billy Graham Greater London Crusade 1954. Graham was already known in the UK. From 1944, he was involved in a host of evangelistic Youth For Christ meetings across Britain, though not everyone approved. “Stanley Barker, for example, the evangelistically minded minister of Bordesley Green Baptist Church in Birmingham, was unconvinced that the way to reach 95 per cent of people in Birmingham who allegedly did not attend church was through ‘surplus saints’, as he labelled them, from America.”* This changed when the pair met, though. In fact, the former sceptic was so convinced of Graham’s ability to evangelise that he “engaged in frantic telephoning of his contacts”, urging each of them to attend the youth meetings in the area, seeing attendance rise to 2,500. This was the power of Graham: his charisma and love of God won over even the strongest cynic. This set the stage for the possibility of a crusade – an idea that was germinating
with church leaders both here and across the pond.
The Festival of Britain came next. The hunger for evangelism intensified and public meetings were held during the 1951 festival to move plans ahead for a major evangelical ‘Exhibition’, which would serve as a warm-up for the Crusade. The Alliance was pivotal to this. Executive officer Roy Cattell brought together a group of 160 evangelical organisations to get behind the exhibition. They agreed the slogan should be ‘For Such a Time as This’. It was said to show evangelical unity and strength of character “on a scale never before seen”. The Alliance knew it could do still more, and planned to organise a mission “of still greater service to the evangelical world”. But how? Then the letter arrived. Graham was secured as America’s foremost evangelist, having converted top celebrities in the US, such as Louis Zamperini, an Olympic track star and Stuart Hamblen, a popular cowboy singer. So in 1952, John Cordle and Roy Cattell went to the United States to, as Graham himself put it, “try to talk me into accepting their invitation to hold a Crusade”. He added: “They impressed me with their burden for England; they expressed themselves eloquently about the social and spiritual problems there since the war.” Signalling his willingness to carry out the Crusade, the stage was set. Committees and subcommittees were established in June 1953 by the Alliance to organise different elements of the crusade, including prayer, literature, publicity, counselling and perhaps most importantly, evangelism – no detail was missed. Evangelical Christendom, the Alliance’s publication at the time, said that “statistics alone are a very poor medium for conveying the wonderful story of the Greater London
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Crusade�. But the figures truly are staggering. During the course of the Crusade, 1,756,300 people attended the stadiums to hear Billy Graham preach. A further 116,500 attended additional meetings and services conducted by Mr Graham, and 174,500 were reached by serves led by his team.
Digging through the archive at the Alliance’s office today uncovers an account from Evangelical Christendom in 1954
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The Evangelical Alliance was clearly integral to the logistical and spiritual success of the 12-week tour. The crusade united Christians in mission from across the country and indeed the world to speak together in one voice. The crusade spoke confidently and effectively in voice to a post-war generation who were desperate for the gospel. Times may have changed, but the work of the Alliance has not. *One Body in Christ: The History and Significance of the Evangelical Alliance by Ian Randall and David Hilborn IDEA MAGAZINE / 21
BIG INTERVIEW
Grace, forgiveness and Chine Mbubaegbu meets Rev Mpho Tutu…
In April 2012, Rev Mpho Tutu returned to her home to find the body of her domestic worker lying in her daughter’s bedroom. Angela was 40 years old and had been strangled and stabbed to death.
“Ultimately it benefits the forgiver most. It’s the forgiver who gets freed to move on their own journey and to find themselves.”
How do you ever get over such a sight? And further still, is there any hope that you might be able to forgive the killer? It’s forgiveness that punctuates so much of the words, message and life of Mpho – an Episcopal priest who is the founder and executive director of the Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage. As Christians we are called to forgive. It’s an act that lies at the heart of our faith. But as incarnational, fallen humans, it can so often be one of the hardest things to do. When someone has wronged us, everything in us wants to cry injustice; to hold the other to account; to not let people get away with it. But through the Holy Spirit at work in us, this counter-cultural act can be a beautiful demonstration of God’s radical grace in our lives. Forgiveness has become the thing that the Tutu family is known for. Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of the most recognisable Christian faces in our world. A man of reconciliation and peace, he is known for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa. And now his daughter Mpho is continuing her father’s work. The two have recently penned The Book of Forgiving together – offering a deeply personal guide to the forgiveness process. I meet Mpho in a nomadic yurt. She emanates grace and serenity, bringing a sense of calm in the middle of a bustling Greenbelt Festival in August. Softly spoken, she pauses and thinks deeply before giving me her answers. The daughter-and-father-penned book follows Archbishop Tutu’s previous book No Future Without Forgiveness, in which he details his upbringing in South Africa and reflects on the part he played as head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “My father wrote No Future Without Forgiveness and that really explained the why of forgiveness – why we need to forgive. And this new book is the how-to manual. What is the process we engage in in order to be able to forgive?” Mpho tells me. “It really is written as a companion to the forgiveness journey. The journey of forgiveness is a journey of four steps: first you need to tell the story, then you need to name a hurt, then at that point you can actually forgive and let go of the injury. Then you decide whether you want to renew the relationship, to create a new relationship. You don’t continue the relationship under the same terms. Or you need to release the relationship – you may need to do this because a person that harmed you is dead, or because the person is abusive and is not going to change.”
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Greenbelt Festival Official
But is forgiveness more about the forgiver or the person being forgiven? Mpho says: “Ultimately it benefits the forgiver most. It’s the forgiver who gets freed to move in their own journey and to find themselves.” The world had felt like a particularly dark place in the weeks before we met. Every day, news headlines brought more doom and gloom and horrors: the downing of flight MH17, bloody conflict in Gaza and Israel, and rising tensions in Iraq. Mpho has previously spoken out about the need to not let evil triumph. Is there any hope amid this darkness? “I think that evil is the absence of love – and the best thing to combat evil is to be the most loving person you can be,” she says.
BIG INTERVIEW
d the Tutu legacy news. And so our question as Christians must always be – is what I am doing, is what I am saying, representative of the good news of Christ?” With a father like Desmond Tutu, it’s no surprise that Mpho has turned out to be the person she is. “I think the biggest lesson that I’ve learnt from my dad is: to love and to pray. Everything else can get caught up in those two lessons. His presence, the spirit that he not only carries but shares, is a spirit of love. And it is undergirded by a practice of prayer.”
Join the forgiveness challenge The Tutu Global Forgiveness Challenge will help you discover how the act of forgiving can bring more love and peace to your life. When enough of us forgive – we can change the world! Sign up, and you’ll receive a daily inspirational email from the Archbishop and Mpho Tutu, with a link to join their online forgiveness community. The 30-day Challenge starts whenever you do. forgivenesschallenge.com
“And to do the most loving thing you know to do. Injustice is injustice and it harms people and our planet in so many ways. So whether it’s war or abuse or racism, it is wrong. “What gives me hope is people. In any situation of injustice, there is – if you look – always someone who can see through to where the love lies, and who can hold onto that vision of where the love is. I think when I look around the world, I see really that all of the wrongs of the world are interwoven in a way, and really touch all of us – because every injustice deprives all of us of the ability to live our best life.” But Mpho sometimes despairs about the Church; the Church that is supposed to bring God’s hope and grace into a broken world. “The evangel is to share good news to everyone. Jesus came to bring good
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Mpho Tutu leading communion at Greenbelt Festival
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Sing Silent Night this Christmas
This Christmas choirs all over the country will help communities to remember a remarkable World War 1 event with a special version of Silent Night, released by HOPE.
much-loved Christmas carol, Silent Night, then they ventured out across No Man’s Land to exchange gifts – some even played football. To mark the centenary of the 1914 Christmas Truce, HOPE and Integrity Music commissioned Ben Cantelon and Nick Herbert to write a new verse and chorus for Joseph Mohr’s famous carol, Silent Night, originally written in German as Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.
But, says Roy Crowne HOPE’s director, there’s still a missing piece: “Christians aren’t confident in talking about Jesus. It’s great to see so many churches looking out. But HOPE’s vision is of a Church where each of us is confident to put our faith into words.”
Their new words point people to Jesus: “Peace and hope have come, through Jesus Christ, the Son...” And the new version carol has caught on. Already there’s a Motown version to go out on the new Motown Gospel Christmas CD. Opera singer Stuart Pendred, guest soloist at the Salvation Army’s annual carol service, is to sing it at the Royal Albert Hall event. A TV documentary about the history of the carol Silent Night, presented by Simon Callow to be broadcast over Christmas, is to include the new version. All over the country in schools, sport stadiums, cathedrals and churches, choirs and congregations will sing Silent Night as part of Silent Night Carols events.
After a year of being good news, HOPE is challenging the Church to talk about the good news. “We want to see people becoming Christians,” Roy says. “HOPE encourages churches to develop a rhythm of mission, so connections made at summer events lead to autumn harvest supper invitations and opportunities to find out more about Jesus.”
The events have the backing of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association. He says: “Even in the bleakest of times, Christmas offers peace and hope. This Christmas, the Silent Night Carols are a powerful way to remember the sacrifice made by so many in the Great War and to celebrate the peace we enjoy.”
The final piece of Hope14 and the year of mission is linked to the World War 1 centenary commemorations.
The challenge is for Christians all over the country to use this unique opportunity to talk about the peace and hope that Jesus gives.
Silent Night carols
Greater Love
This Christmas choirs all over the country will help communities to remember a remarkable World War 1 event. Peace broke out in the trenches. There was no fighting for 24 hours. Enemies sang the
Silent Night Carols are part of HOPE’s Greater Love campaign, helping churches to serve their communities as the nation commemorates the centenary of the First World War. The events
Churches all over the country have caught HOPE’s vision: working together, putting faith into action and making links with the community. There’s been an explosion of summer festivals and family fun days. The Church has left the building to reach out to make new connections.
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REVIEWS
have the backing of Sports Chaplaincy UK. Resources are available at hopetogether.org.uk/greaterlove. Roy Crowne, HOPE’s director, says: “It’s been amazing how the Silent Night Carols events have come together. There’s been a huge response, so we are expecting thousands of people to be at events held all over the country this December, in football stadiums, schools, churches and wherever people sing Christmas carols. “The Christian churches, military chaplaincies and sports chaplains who have met to plan Silent Night Carols want people to celebrate, reflect and join us as we pray that this Christmas people will find fresh hope for the future. Most of all we want people to discover the peace and hope found in knowing Jesus personally – supernatural peace that anyone who knows Jesus can experience even when you are surrounded by fighting.” HOPE is partnering with Tearfund to produce free copies of a Silent Night Carols programme, for churches to use at events, with the words of 10 favourite carols including the new version of Silent Night, and a special focus on Syria as a contemporary war zone where Christians are bringing fresh hope. Copies of the Silent Night Carols programme are available from silentnightcarols.org; local groups can sign up on this website with details of their event, download a preview of the programme, print sheet music and chord charts for the carol, use two speciallywritten drama sketches and find out how Silent Night Carols events can support families today. “Let’s get this carol into the hands of every choir and church music group - print it out and pass it on, then use Silent Night Carols to talk about the peace and hope Jesus gives to people,” says Roy.
Silent Night Carols – an invitation to hope The Archbishop of Canterbury wrote an introduction to the Silent Night Carols programme. The Most Rev Justin Welby said: “On Christmas Day 1914 the guns fell silent on the Western Front as German and British soldiers laid down their weapons, to exchange greetings, play football and sing carols. But they then returned to their hostilities.
GATECRASHING: THE STORY OF 24-7 PRAYER IN IBIZA by Brian Heasley (IVP) This is the story of Brian and Tracey Heasley, called to pray for an island with more pubs, clubs and bars per square mile than anywhere else in Europe: Ibiza. For seven years, the couple ministered to thousands of young people caught up in the shocking scenes of excess and violence. The team soon became known as the fourth emergency service. “Some knelt, some put their hands together, some shared deep worries and concern.” This book may inform and challenge, but is sure to inspire. Gatecrashing shows how no person is beyond God’s reach. Reviewed by Amaris Cole
THE RISE OF THE NONES by James Emery White (Baker Books) The fastest-growing religious group in the US are those without any religious affiliation at all, dubbed ‘the nones’. In this fascinating look at the changing face of belief in the States, James Emery White explores the reasons for this shift. But what’s great about this book is that it’s not just written by an objective academic looking from the outside in, but from a pastor. As senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, Emery White does really practise what he preaches, with the majority of the church’s activities based on new convert growth rather than transfer growth. This book should serve as a wake-up call to church leaders to move away from preaching to the converted. Reviewed by Chine Mbubaegbu
ROW FOR FREEDOM: CROSSING AN OCEAN IN SEARCH OF HOPE
“This Christmas 2014 we are invited to leave our defended positions and meet those we might consider to be our enemies, exchange greetings, make peace and sing carols. “We do this not because of the actions of those soldiers 100 years ago. But because of the actions of God over 2,000 years ago; as he came to us, at great cost, to bring reconciliation and peace, joy and hope, life and light. And he came to us not just to bring change for one day, but for the whole of our lives. “As you sing today, raise your voice and imagine what it might mean if what you were singing were true, not just for you but for those you most need to be reconciled with. Pray for peace for you and your community, and peace for the troubled areas of this world. And then leave, and live differently.” hopetogether.org.uk/greaterlove
by Julia Immonen (Thomas Nelson) This story of triumph begins with the tragedy of a childhood marred by domestic violence and poverty. Born in Finland, Julia starts the book with the cold memories of her childhood, before the family moved to England when she was aged six. With her four teammates, she broke two World Records and rowed 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Barbados. Julia has been competitive since she was a girl, but in this autobiography she explains it was her passion to end the plight of the 27 million victims of modern day slavery that kept her going during the gruelling challenge. Reviewed by Amaris Cole
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THEOLOGY
Politics and power: the biblical perspective by Steve Holmes
There is an inscription in the ancient city of Prierne which reads in part: “The most divine [one] … we should consider equal to the Beginning of all things … for when everything was falling … he restored it once more … [He is] the common good fortune of all … the beginning of life and vitality … all the cities unanimously adopt [his birthday] as the new beginning of the year … the Providence which has regulated our whole existence … has brought our life to the climax of perfection in giving to us [him], whom it filled with virtue for our welfare, and who, being sent to us and our descendants as a saviour, has put an end to war and has set all things in order … having become manifest, [he] has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times … his birthday has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel concerning him.” This was written just before Jesus was born, in 9BC, about the Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar; in the Eastern half of the empire, there was a long tradition of worshipping political rulers as deities. When Matthew and Luke wrote their narratives of the birth of Jesus, they self-consciously used political language, taking imperial titles and re-applying them to Jesus. Paul does the same thing, most obviously in his core confession of faith, ‘Jesus is Lord’; of course it is a claim to deity, but Paul knew very well that the basic Roman confession of loyalty was ‘Caesar is Lord’. To be a Christian was necessarily to dethrone Caesar, or so Paul thought. IDEA MAGAZINE / 28
There is a collision between faith in Jesus and obedience to earthly power: how do we negotiate the relationship of faithfulness to King Jesus and obedience to Queen Elizabeth? The biblical answer, it seems to me, is ‘nimbly’. There are guiding principles which we need, to discover how to enact faithfully and creatively in different situations. God is sovereign, of course, and God is sovereign over good and bad and downright appalling regimes. God’s purposes are never thwarted by ballot box, or indeed by revolution. Jesus is King, and King Jesus, unlike Queen Elizabeth, is no respecter of parliamentary majorities. That said, in the good purposes of King Jesus, we have earthly governments. He permits and demands their best efforts in governing justly and well. As Paul has it in Romans 13: “…there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.” We have to be realistic about the repeated failures of all earthly governments: we know, after all, that they and we are fallen people working in a fallen world, and so perfection in government or in any other area is very far from attainable. But earthly government does good. In Romans 13 the focus is on the maintenance of peace. Under God, governments are called to rein in violence, to preserve the order of the society. And, of course, the order they preserve is in many ways unjust, but the witness of
Steve Holmes is senior lecturer in theology at the University of St Andrews. He is also chair of the Alliance’s Theology Advisory Group (TAG) and on the Alliance board.
LEADERS’ QUESTIONS
What’s your favourite film? My favourite film is Fever Pitch, based on the Nick Hornby book. The film explores the life and loves of a football-mad Arsenal supporter. It’s the opening scene that always gets me as it takes me back to my childhood where I was taken by my grandfather to cheer on Bradford City (not quite Arsenal). I cry every time I watch the film. Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance Picking one film is tough as I watch all kinds of films, from trashy romantic comedies to high-octane action films and the occasional art nouveau. I do, however, love Dangerous Liaisons with Glenn Close and John Malkovic. Why? Because it is full of the realities of complex human lives and really gives a sense of both the deep poverty, but also the high goodness of the human spirit. Jody Stowell, vicar of St Michael and All Angels’ Harrow
scripture seems to be that almost any order is better than no order, and history does not disagree. There is, then, a biblical mandate for earthly politics; what is the place of the church in this? We might phrase it as ‘critical friendship’, or as ‘speaking the truth to power’. Since the government is ordained by God, the church is, as far as it can, to be a friend to government. But being a friend is never being an uncritical cheerleader. Where the government errs, and as we have seen, government by fallen people in a fallen world will always err, our primary loyalty calls us to stand against it. In scripture we see examples of godly people close to power, dancing the nimble dance of offering criticism and correction alongside proper honour and obedience: Esther, Ezra and Daniel all did it in different ways, and there is much to learn from Ezra’s prayers, Daniel’s wise judgments of where he could bend and where he had to refuse any compromise, and Esther’s courageous and clever planning to make the king hear truth. These stories offer an orientation – an attitude – that will work out differently in different situations, and that we are called, depending always on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to find ways to exemplify. We have to be wise and imaginative in finding the right ways to speak truth to power, moment by moment.
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A tough call! Would it be The Holiday for the idyllic image of England, or Just Go With It for the music and cameos? No, it has to be Lord of the Rings: good triumphs over evil, small things are as important as mighty deeds and greed and grasping is defeated by self-sacrifice and serving. And at its core is a David and Jonathan friendship with the true hero named Samwise. Daniel Singleton, national executive director, Faith Action I love films, so it’s pretty difficult to pin down just one. I’m a big fan of musicals so The Sound of Music and Grease are among those I pretty much know all the words to. But I also love a good thriller – one that makes you think or has a big twist that you couldn’t have seen coming; so Memento and State of Play are up there too. I’m also a sucker for a tear-jerker; so West Side Story is my number one - a perfect blend of beautiful music, stunning cinematography and a heart-wrenching story. It gets me every time. Chine Mbubaegbu, head of media and communications for the Alliance
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F
TURE
Celebrating the Churches across the country are fulfilling Jesus’ call to love their neighbours and Jesus House in Brent Cross, London, is no exception. The church is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God denomination (RCCG), which has grown since 1988 to 700 churches in the UK. Week in, week out, elderly residents in care homes across Barnet and Brent are visited during the weekend by a group of committed volunteers from Jesus House who share God’s love and bring a smile to their faces. The ministry, called Abigail’s Court, was founded with a strong vision to reach out to the older and often forgotten members of the community. At its height, Abigail’s Court visited 52 homes, but this has reduced to 42 due to cuts in the two boroughs. More than 30 people are currently serving on the team, led by Stella Jackson-Obot. On their visits to homes they open in prayer, sing familiar songs and hymns with the residents and keep them awake by clapping energetically. “We ask them questions and love to see their faces
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brighten up,” Stella explained. “After singing we pray the Lord’s Prayer with them, bless them and pray for the sick. Then we finish with a lively song they all recognise, such as It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” “When we begin visiting homes they often ask us why we are using our time to meet with the elderly residents. We tell them it is because of the love of God and that we are there to serve,” Stella explained. Her experience of working in a care home for many years means she has an understanding of the residents’ needs and compassion for them. “You need passion to love them and treat them as if they are your own family,” she said.
We don’t have to ask if this is what God wants us to do – this is what he expects, as we read in Matthew 25 As well as the weekly visits, the Abigail’s Court team plan an annual banquet called Celebrating Life to honour senior citizens in the two boroughs and beyond. Their 10th anniversary is coming up next year.
IN THE THICK OF IT
elderly
by Lucy Olofinjana
This year the ninth Celebrating Life event took place on Saturday, 2 August, with 530 guests welcomed to the Jesus House auditorium for a three-course meal and Christian entertainment. Each guest was given a rose on their arrival and a gift before they left. Those who have a birthday in the month of the event are presented with a card and a shared cake, and given an extra special treat if it’s their birthday that weekend. “I’ve never had such hospitality like this in all my life, and I appreciate it most sincerely,” said one guest at the 2008 event, recorded in the video on the Jesus House website. “We receive cards from the guests who have attended saying how much they enjoyed it, and phone calls at the start of the year from homes asking when the next event will take place!” Stella explained. The local MPs and mayors of both Brent and Barnet councils attend, as well as local councillors and elderly church members. Some 45 trained volunteers from Jesus House make the event possible and no expense is spared. Stella explained that they do not limit the number of guests because they are so keen to bless the residents of their local care homes, and also their carers. To raise
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funds for the food, entertainment and transport costs, the team regularly sell cakes after their church services. Stella’s passion for reaching out to her elderly neighbours shines through: “We don’t have to ask if this is what God wants us to do – this is what he expects, as we read in Matthew 25.” Stella is keen to share their resources and expertise with other churches, and another RCCG church is already planning to set up a similar ministry in their community. “People are free to contact us to find out more,” she said. Abigail’s Court is part of the Church Social Responsibility department in Jesus House, which also runs a local food bank and youth scheme, encourages members to sponsor children and co-ordinates more than 8,000 shoeboxes filled with gifts for children to send overseas at Christmas time. The Alliance’s recent research Are we good neighbours? is designed to inspire churches and individuals about how they can be better neighbours in their community. Visit eauk.org/surveys to find out more. Contact Stella Jackson-Obot at Abigail’s Court at abigailscourt@jesushouse.org.uk.
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IDEA-LIST
Chine Mbubaegbu
10 evangelical women you should know by Chine Mbubaegbu
Phoebe Palmer Born in 1807, Palmer is considered one of the founders of the Holiness movement in the US, which later influenced the Methodist Church worldwide. She wrote several books, including The Way of Holiness and penned the melody to Fanny Crosby’s Blessed Assurance. She led the Methodist Ladies’ Home Missionary Society in founding the Five Points Mission in 1850 in a slum area of New York.
Elizabeth Fry Take a look at a £5 note and you’ll see a depiction of Elizabeth Fry – an English prison reformer and Christian philanthropist who became known as the “angel of prisons”. Her heart and passion for the humane treatment of prisoners made her the driving force behind new legislation and saw her start the British Ladies’ Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners – believed to be the first nationwide women’s organisation in the UK.
Catherine Booth Known as the ‘mother of the Salvation Army’, Catherine founded the movement with her husband William. She had attended Wesleyan Methodist classes from a young age and was a supporter of the temperance movement. A gifted communicator and preacher, she would speak to wealthy people to gain support for the Booths’ ministry, while William preached to the poor. Catherine also organised Food for the Million shops where poor people could buy affordable meals. An avid reader, she wrote a number of books related to Christian living.
Jackie Pullinger When Jackie Pullinger left the UK to be a missionary, she was only 22, with a degree in music. She had been turned down by several mission agencies as unqualified, but still she felt compelled to ‘go’. Now Pullinger is well-known as a fearless missionary who has ministered in Hong Kong and seen more than 500 drug addicts saved
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from their addiction. She is also the founder of the St Stephen’s Society. Following the success of her book Chasing the Dragon, she has spoken to thousands around the world.
Mary Jones Having learned to read in schools organised by preacher Thomas Charles from nearby Bala, Mary Jones had a burning desire to own her own Bible. This desire led her at age 15 to walk 25 miles in 1800, having saved for six years, in the hope that she could buy a copy of the scriptures. Mary wept when she discovered Charles had sold out. But her passion for the Bible moved Charles to form the British and Foreign Bible Society in London in 1804. In October, the Bible Society opened Mary Jones World – a museum telling the young girl’s story and the story of the Bible – in Bala.
Mary Slessor Born in 1848, Mary Slessor was a Scottish missionary to Nigeria. Having heard that David Livingstone had died, she decided at age 27 that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and spread the gospel overseas. She applied to the United Presbyterian Church’s Foreign Mission Board and after training in Edinburgh arrived in Calabar, Nigeria, among the Efik people. Slessor made herself at home with the natives, learning to speak the language and eat traditional Nigerian food. She died from fever in Nigeria 35 years after she had first arrived.
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon Selina Hastings played a key part in the evangelical revival of 18th century Britain, counting George Whitefield and John Wesley among her friends. They held large dinner parties at which she would ask Whitefield to preach to the dignitaries after they had eaten. She founded the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion – a Calvinistic movement within the Methodist Church – and was responsible for founding 64 chapels, and funding many others. John Henry Newman said of her: “She devoted herself, her means, her time, her thoughts, to the cause of Christ.”
Sojourner Truth A campaigner for human rights and the freedom of all people, Sojourner Truth is most famous for her ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio in 1851. The most famous AfricanAmerican woman of the 19th century, Truth – an illiterate ex-slave – became an advocate for the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, temperance and prison reform.
Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Semple McPherson was the most famous Christian evangelist of the 1920s and 30s. Founder of the Foursquare Church, she was one of the most photographed women of her time, often featured in the media giving quotes on a whole variety of subjects. She was one of the key figures behind the evangelical revival in the 20th century. After marrying her husband James in 1908 and starting a family, she felt dissatisfied with her role as homemaker and felt she was denying her call to be an evangelist, until James invited her to come and preach with him in 1915.
Elaine Storkey Elaine Storkey is one of the most renowned evangelical leaders in the world today. She succeeded John Stott as executive director at the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity in 1991, and is also a former chair of Tearfund. She has been a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day for more than 20 years, and has written for countless newspapers and magazines. Her books include What’s Right with Feminism and The Origins of Difference. She has served on a number of boards and councils, including the Evangelical Alliance Council – on which she currently sits, and the Crown Nominations Commission. She is currently president of Church of England think-tank Fulcrum.
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CULTURE
Sophie Lister is a writer with Damaris.
Soul Story You’ve probably heard of him. They called him “Mr. Dynamite,” “The Godfather of Soul,” “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” James Brown was a legend in his own lifetime, and continues to inform and inspire our most popular musical artists today. But who was the man behind those signature moves? In the new film Get On Up, we zip back and forth through the contrasting chapters of the singer’s extraordinary story. Born dirt-poor in South Carolina in the middle of the Great Depression in 1933, young James (Chadwick Boseman) survives a life of abandonment, abuse, reform school and jail. His mother (Viola Davis) leaves the family, and only his Aunt Honey (Octavia Spencer) really believes in him. Nobody ever taught him the rules - so he is destined from the start to break them. Along the way, he channels life’s hard knocks into a unique and thrilling musical sound. A chance meeting with gospel singer Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis) leads to a friendship and collaboration that will last a lifetime. Get On Up chronicles James Brown’s meteoric rise from playing with his first band, The Famous Flames, to eventually becoming one of the most influential performers to ever hit the stage of popular music. Extraordinary destiny How do you tell the story of a life? This must have been the challenge facing the filmmakers as they set about bringing James Brown’s tale to the screen, sifting through the facts to find something that captured the essence of the man. It’s also the challenge faced by the character of James himself, as portrayed in the film. His story appears to be hopeless as a child, characterised by horrible neglect and deprivation; it’s only by turning this on its head, spinning a different tale about who he is and what he’s worth, that James manages to overcome his circumstances. The film emphasises the showman’s capacity for reinvention, giving us scenes where James directly addresses the camera, boldly constructing his own legend for the audience. Where does this boldness come from? In part, it’s instilled in him by his Aunt Honey, who takes care of the young James and believes that he has an extraordinary destiny. “You’re special,” she tells him. “One day, everybody’s gonna know your name.” The power that her words wield is startling, IDEA MAGAZINE / 34
“One day, everybody’s gonna know your name.” we’re reminded how even the smallest encouragements can create freedom and release for people, opening up a more hopeful future. It also seems that defiance and resilience are simply part of James’s make-up: he knows deep down that he doesn’t have to dance to the world’s tune. Get On Up is a dynamic portrait of the freedom we gain when we refuse to be defined by where we come from, or by what the world says about our potential. Solo act But there are dangers for James as he takes ownership of his story in this way. The film shows how frequently he falls from the tightrope between reclaiming his dignity and destructively self-aggrandising. Sometimes, the story he chooses to tell about himself is one in which he’s the only person who matters. “I look after James Brown,” he says, in one scene. “No-one else help me. No-one else.” He dismisses and hurts the people who love him, and who’ve helped him find success – including his wife, and his enduringly patient best friend Bobby Byrd. James Brown could probably claim to be a self-made man with more legitimacy than most people. But living his life as a one-man show threatens to destroy him on the inside. Our successes may not be as soaring as his,
nor our failures as dramatic, but we’re all prone to making ourselves the centre of our universe. If the tale of our lives is only ever told by us, about us, we may find that we’ve gone wildly off-course. Can a solo act ever have real soul? Perhaps this powerful film might cause us all to think about our need for a new story: one which restores our worth not by setting us apart from everybody else, but by putting us back into right relationships. Get On Up is released in cinemas on 21 November. For free community resources based on the film, see damaris.org/ getonup Sophie Lister is a writer with Damaris which provides free resources for Damaris Film Clubs as well as the Damaris Film Blog. See damaris.org/filmclubs and damaris.org/filmblog.
CHARTS
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GOOD QUESTION
What is wrong with polygamy? Until recently the answer to this question seemed universally obvious despite perhaps a few complicating cultural missional contexts. However, as Don Horrocks, the Alliance’s head of public affairs, explains, today the answer for many may well be – ‘not a lot’! Until recently, most people knew instinctively that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. In legal terms this is no longer the case in much of the West. Many, including Christians, are uncertain about what marriage is and why it matters. Before we can even consider polygamy, we first have to define what marriage is. This is no longer straightforward. In fact, during a recent parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage, one government minister said that “marriage is what you want it to be”. If parliament can suddenly decide after thousands of years of human history that marriage is no longer between a man and a woman, then where is the logic in insisting that it must remain between two people? For evangelical Christians the pattern for marriage is authoritatively laid down in scripture. Although the Bible never commands, encourages or condones polygamy, it may be a surprise to discover that neither does it explicitly forbid it. Lamech was the first of many polygamists in the Old Testament, including patriarchs and kings who enjoyed divine favour (see Genesis 4:19; 29:21-30; 1 Samuel 27:3, for example). But the absence of explicit biblical prohibition should never be equated with divine approval. The Bible often uses stories as warnings to convey the mind IDEA MAGAZINE / 36
and purposes of God. In Lamech’s case, his practice of polygamy is understood to be typical of the wicked, whose willful pride and lust for power seeks to be satisfied by the multiplication of wives or other symbols of status and self-indulgence. Plural marriage has never been biblical marriage and when polygamy occurred it usually had disastrous outcomes for families, including David (2 Samuel 11-13). Blessed with wisdom and divine favour, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. However, consistent with divine warnings about the dangers of polygamy in Deuteronomy 17:17, scripture is clear that “they turned his heart away from the Lord … to follow other gods … Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.” (1 Kings 11:3-6). We may not fully understand why scripture doesn’t record God denouncing the behaviour of Abraham, Jacob and David when they flouted God’s pattern for marriage. It may involve similar considerations to the question of divorce addressed by Jesus in Matthew 19:8, when he stated: “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning.” There is no condemnation of polygamy in the Bible like the condemnation of divorce in Malachi 2:10-16 and Matthew
19:9. However, the Old Testament does circumscribe polygamy by regulations, which acknowledge that multiple wives pose a potential threat to social stability and may often involve family complications (Deuteronomy 21:15-17). Today, it’s observed that societies that admit polygamy often involve abuse of power and oppression of women. Most Old Testament references to polygamy assume that a man’s first wife could not have children or that having plural wives was a means of developing strategic relationships and alliances. The practice of polygamy seemed to be associated with ensuring that no woman remained childless and no man need look outside his family for sexual relationship. It was therefore a practical solution to experienced need. But it was always understood to be the exception rather than the rule. The inaugural account of male and female relationship of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-2 is undoubtedly meant to represent the programmatic biblical pattern for human relationships. In Genesis 2:24 God set out his clear intention for marriage, which is unambiguously heterosexual and monogamous. The emphasis on their becoming “one flesh” presupposes a monogamous relationship, and this creation ordinance is strongly reinforced by Jesus and the whole New Testament in reference to husbands and wives. Indeed, being the husband of one wife is a prerequisite for leadership in the Church and is a requirement often found highlighted, for example, in African churches today (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6). Christians usually define marriage in terms of the biological complementarity of one man and one woman in conjugal relationship as father and mother to any children their union produces. If by redefining marriage its uniqueness and normativity in terms of gender complementarity disappears, then children are decoupled from marriage and adultery and consummation are marginalized. So then what remains of marriage is little more than an adult-centred, committed, intense emotional relationship. On the basis of such logic, why should exclusivity in marriage be insisted on? Why should recent demands by polygamy and open marriage activists for full civil rights be resisted? Indeed, there may be a feeling of déjà vu in the recent remarkable number of attempts to demonstrate that polygamy is actually biblically acceptable today and that the idea of multiple sexual partners is by no means prohibited by scripture. But for Bible-believing Christians the injunction of Paul against polygamy remains unambiguous: “Each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2).
LETTERS: HAVE YOUR SAY
In your words
We love hearing from you, so have your say on any of the issues raised in idea or make any comments about the Evangelical Alliance by emailing idea@eauk.org
THANK YOU
OLD DEARS AND LOUD WORSHIP
I recently started a women’s group at our small church and orphan centre here in Kenya. I really had no idea what I was doing, because it was all new to me.
I found your comments about the volume of worship music in the context of an all age church frustrating. Worship music is there to lead and support a congregation in worship. The loudest rock music is designed to dominate and overwhelm. People who object to loud worship music don’t necessarily want to be “peaceful”, but to be able to hear themselves and others. How can people bring a word from the floor if the music is so loud they can’t be heard? Sometimes, paradoxically, volume means people can’t pick out the melody line because all they can hear is a generalised metallic clanging. For some, it can be physically painful. A rock audience are there to be acted on; a church congregation is there to act; to make declarations, to respond to the ebb and flow as the worship unfolds, and at times to initiate. Sometimes forceful volume can help, but it is “sometimes” not “always”.
But I feel so strongly that when women get together in the name of the Lord, great things can happen. I happened to stumble across your website as I looked for devotional material. It’s a great support to vulnerable children and orphans who are compassionately saved through the blood of Christ. What a help it has been! Thank you! Mary Kerubo, Kenya WHAT IF It was very challenging to read the Last Word about A Better Way (Sep/Oct 2014) from Steve Clifford in the recent copy of idea. The question “what if” can apply in many other situations. One of these “what if” questions that I often note is that Israel is geographically in the centre of much trouble. Looking it up in Operation World I see that under geography it says the area of Israel is 20,700sqkm. A further 7,540 sqkm of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights have been controlled by Israel since 1967. I then see in The Times of 2 September 2014 that Israel has now annexed nearly a further 1,000 acres of the Occupied Bank. When all of this land annexed by Israel is breaking international law, it seems hardly surprising that there is discontent and fighting in the area. What a pity that so many Christians, especially in America, are so supportive. We are indignant about Russia and Ukraine so why not the same response regarding Israel? “What if” the rule of law was supported? Surely it would be a better way.
I play in a worship band myself and love it - but there is a debate about which bits of rock culture translate into the church and which bits don’t. Stereotyping people who try to begin this debate as old fogies echoes the marketing techniques of the rock industry - if you don’t like X group you must be old, middle-class, Establishment or whatever - hence neatly avoiding the question of whether they are any good. Linked to it is the idea that the young are by definition “radical” and the old want comfort and routine. This sets up an unbridgeable chasm, because anything older people say is seen in that context and smilingly dismissed. Once reducing volume is seen as a concession to the “old dears” the real debate can’t take place. P Matthews, Kent
heard in tweets Carl Beech @carlfbeech Great to catch up with people @EAUKnews council meeting. It’s a fascinating time to be navigating the challenges of faith together. UK Prayer Mission @ukprayermission Thank you to @stevemclifford from @EAUKnews for encouraging us to take partnership in the Gospel seriously. Martyn Travers @mptravers @EAUKnews Such a helpful and resourcing emphasis on the Missing generation in the @idea_mag .Those who have ears let them hear. Sarah Jane Shore @sarahjaneshore The Sept/Oct @idea_mag is a truly brilliant 20s and 30s takeover. A very special ‘special edition’.
Follow the Alliance on Twitter: @EAUKnews @idea_mag
Editor Amaris Cole – idea@eauk.org Consulting editors Steve Morris, Krish Kandiah Contributing writers Catherine Butcher, Lucy Olofinjana, Gethin Russell-Jones, David Smyth, Kieran Turner, Nicky Waters Advertising manager Candy O’Donovan c.odonovan@eauk.org Design & Print Cliffe Enterprise Head of media & communications Chine Mbubaegbu
idea is published bi-monthly and sent free of charge to members of the Evangelical Alliance. Formed in 1846, the Alliance’s mission is to unite evangelicals to present Christ credibly as good news for spiritual and social transformation. There are around two million evangelical Christians in the UK, according to a 2007 Tearfund survey. idea is published in accordance with the Alliance’s Basis of Faith, although it is impossible in every article to articulate each detail and nuance of belief held by Alliance members. Articles in idea may therefore express views on which there is a divergence of opinion or understanding among evangelicals. Letters and story ideas from members are welcome, and will be considered by the editorial board, which reserves the right to edit letters and stories for length and style. We regret that we are unable to engage in personal correspondence. Unsolicited material will only be returned if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. idea accepts advertisements and inserts to offset printing costs. Advertising in idea does not imply editorial endorsement. The Alliance reserves the right to accept or refuse advertisements at its discretion. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from the editor.
Brian Hogbin, Oswestry NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
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LAST WORD
Steve Clifford the general director, writes…
This is the Church at work When I’m asked what I enjoy most about my role at the Evangelical Alliance, I invariably answer that I get to work with some amazing people and hear about and experience first-hand some of the incredible work the Church is doing all over the country, and indeed in different parts of the world. One of my visits this summer took me to Sidcup in south east London. As I parked my car it was obvious that this was far from the average church kids’ club. It seemed as if the whole park, right in the middle of the town, had been taken over. There were numerous marquees, both large and small, an open-air stage, cafes and so much activity with hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds milling around. I had just arrived at Lark in the Park, brought together by Sidcup churches and hosted by New Generation Church. As I chatted to Paul Weston, the church’s leader, he gave me the background. Lark in the Park started 18 years ago with a small DIY tent. It lasted for only a weekend. Over the years, it has grown to become a focal point for the community in and around Sidcup. As I walked around the sights and looked at the programme, it was obvious there was something for everyone – whatever your age or interests. I walked past a tea dance and into a craft tent before being interviewed on an outside stage. I then visited a whole host of children’s and youth activities. For 16 days Lark in the Park had become a gathering place, a ‘free gift’ to the community. What I loved about what I saw was not only the sheer scale (on average 1,500 visitors a day) and the amazing number of volunteers (over 500), but the fact that, unapologetically, it was the church at the heart of it. The church was offering
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to pray for those in need, inviting people to Alpha courses and telling real-life stories about how faith had changed people’s lives. In other words, preaching the gospel and doing church every night right in the centre of the park, while clearly and genuinely serving the community that surrounds them.
days over the summer. The work continues right through the year: food banks, park pastors, debt counselling, provision for young people, Bexley’s first free school, Alpha courses and parenting courses; you name it, the Church is doing it. The Church is being church both in words and action.
As I drove away late that afternoon I wanted to open the window of my car and shout at the top of my voice: “This is the Church at work”. I was so proud of what I’d seen; the way the churches of Sidcup were so generously and sacrificially serving the people of their community.
As we read our newspapers and watch TV it’s easy to come away with the impression that the Church is dead. It’s true, nominal Christianity – the turn-up-on-a-Sundaybecause-you-think-you-should Christianity – is finished in the UK. But I want you to know, as I travel the country, I am finding a Church that’s wonderfully alive. Passionate, committed, Christ-centred Christianity is continuing to impact lives; the good news of the gospel is still working today.
I know we as the church don’t always get things right. We make mistakes and we don’t always represent Jesus as well as we should, but sometimes, you know, I just want to celebrate all of the amazing things the church across the UK is contributing to society. What the churches in Sidcup have demonstrated is a long-term commitment to their community, and that’s not just for 16
Lark in the Park website: larkinthepark.com Hope Community School: hopecommunityschool.org
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